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Marvin Lewis broke out a beefy 15-minute press conference today, offering some substance on a wide range of topics as the team enters its second week.

On top of riffing on the topic of the day, Geno Atkins, he also stated his opinion on a new coordinator taking over play-calling, Margus Hunt's progress, Darqueze Dennard impressions, his desire to turn the heat up on camp and when Andy Dalton felt comfortable walking into his office.

Here are the highlights of what he had to say this afternoon.

On the development of Margus Hunt over the last year:

"I think he's made a huge, huge, huge leap. We didn't know that Margus would get an opportunity to play much football last year, but when Robert got hurt and Geno got hurt he got to play quite a bit more than we would have expected so we're reaping the benefit of that now. The fact he got experience out there on an NFL field and now you see the confidence and you see the things kind of like what we're talking about with Andy Dalton the fact that he's now played, Margus now understands what to do and he understands the tempo and the things that we were trying to get him to understand at this point last May, last June, training camp now he understands and so you're able to go beyond that. He's one of the guys I'm excited to see play next Thursday night in Kansas City."

On what he's seen from Darqueze Dennard:

"Darqueze Dennard in my eyes has been very impressive thus far in training camp. Somebody told me this, because I probably would have never read it myself, but that one of his inadequacies was possibly playing the ball down the field and sometimes I think college corners get knocked for that particularly if they were a physical player in college. That's one of the things that's impressed me so much is his ability to track and play the football on vertical throws. If you want to be a great corner at this level you have to have those capabilities and he's shown those thus far. When Leon wasn't working with our first group he was out there from day number one in some of the substituted defensive units. He handled those things very well mentally. Some things were new to him – if the technique was new or an experience or a response he was supposed to have – he didn't make the same mistake twice."

On change in Dalton as a leader from 2011 to now:

"I think the guy that first came here wouldn't have walked into my office like he did the very first day he came back last Monday. The guy last year would have taken him 2-3 days to walk in. It's just how he carries himself that way. The football team looks at him as the leader and that's a good thing. We were in a different situation in 2011 when Andy got here and he really showed his composure, his makeup by dealing with that very well."

On the different personalities making calls at coordinator now:

"They both assume way bigger roles. Hue (Jackson) has been a play caller in the NFL before, where this is going to be Paul's (Guenther) first exposure to actually being the play caller. It's one thing to suggest but it's another to be in charge of it (laughs). You can suggest and say 'Well you didn't quite hear me right' (laughs). Then you get real quiet when you're asked for something. It's going to be fun. I know it's going to be an exciting time for Paul. We start in Kansas City a week from tomorrow and you're put on the spotlight to call your first NFL game. I don't quite remember my first preseason game but I remember my first regular season game doing that. It's different."

On Geno Atkins changing what the team does defensively:

"Geno has developed into one of the better pass rushers in the interior line in the game. He creates an issue for one-on-one matchups. He's done a real good job of growing and really playing well in the run game. Through his very short career here thus far he's really hit the ground running and done a good job. Coming back adds a strength to the interior of the defensive line to allow protection and things like that to get based upon where Geno is. Hopefully we continue to create issues in the middle of the line which makes it better for your outside rushers."